Leatherback Turtles

There’s nothing like a turtle story. Indigenous legends are prolific and there are a variety of cultural myths about the universe’s creation being initiated on a turtle’s shell. The allegorical tales are endless and have turtles depicted as cosmic, heavenly, and celestial creatures. If you’ve had the pleasure of swimming with sea turtles, it’s easy to understand why. It just so happens that our family has lots of turtle stories. 

When Paul was a wee boy of 12 he babysat for the large family of 6 in his neighborhood and had to not only take care of the kids but regularly bathe the family’s pet turtle in beef bouillon soup to cure its illness. In Chinatown once I fell sucker to a sales pitch of how they made great pets, especially if you bought them in male/female pairs. Convinced and reassured of the purchase by the 7 year old in tow, I did purchase this exceptionally cute and tiny turtle couple and brought them home to learn how inviable they really were. Once, at a traditional cooking fest called an “oil down” (the dish goes by the same name), in Grenada, a stew of vegetable, meats and fish… I was served turtle. We had no idea what an “oil down” was but soon learned it was the national dish and an all-day event, like a barbecue and decided to join. When the unidentifiable lump landed on my plate, I inquired and learned it was a hawksbill turtle. After having recently toured the turtle sanctuary in Bequia, there was no way I could eat and politely asked they take it off my plate. That ensued a deep discussion between the local Grenadian cook and his European friend about why, so I heard, as I turned away. The cook said to his friend that he had never known that it took 20-25 years for a hawksbill to reproduce and that they were protected for this reason as I had mentioned this being the reason for my culinary protest. He wondered why no one had told him this information before. I thought to myself, the head of the Bequia turtle sanctuary needs to tour the islands, especially Grenada where there is still an open season on endangered turtles. 

In 2015 our niece Kayla spotted something on the horizon while we were sailing a charter sailboat in beautiful Buzzard’s Bay, New England. When we all looked out to identify what she spotted, a large human-like head slowly came into focus and distinct ridges on a domed back made it clear that what we were seeing was a leatherback surfacing. We’ve been in a bay in Antigua where as I sat to have my morning coffee, the loudest noise heard was the sea turtles coming up for air as they swam through and past us at anchor. In Martinique we snorkeled with numerous sea turtles. In one bay, visibility was not great because the seas were rough, and the sea turtles swimming in their deep trance wouldn’t see you until the last minute when they would casually glance up, blinking you into focus, and then would dive down to avoid you. A few times I had to stop swimming because I wasn’t sure if the sea turtle was going to look up or if we’d have a collision. If you have ever seen Finding Nemo, the movie so perfectly personifies these gentle creatures. If you haven’t, it’s a must see.

Once an enormous sea turtle stopped and sorta danced with Daniel at one point while snorkeling. This particular sea turtle was so large his back flippers came down as far as Daniel’s knees as they were waltzing vertically in the water together. Here in Grenada we heard it was nesting season for leatherbacks and small tours went out at night to see the females laying their hatchlings. We joined, not really knowing what to expect and knew that a sighting might not even happen. 

Being picked up at 7 pm for an outing is rare. We rise with the sun and set with the sun here in the Caribbean, but this was certainly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The ride to the sight was long and bumpy and we went to a fairly remote little spit of beach where these leatherbacks came to lay. We were told leatherback females chose the beach to lay on based on loyalty and were probably hatched there themselves and returned to, in turn, hatch their young. I’d consider that more of an internal mapping than loyalty, but I’m not the expert. 

Leatherbacks migrate as many at 10,000 miles in between feeding and breeding seasons. The leatherback’s “shell” is actually called a carapace and is thick and uniquely leathery. They’ve existed since the dinosaur era and are now considered endangered and their population has so rapidly declined due to compounded threats and conditions. Grenada still has an open-hunting season though not for leatherbacks but for other endangered species. SPECTO is the local organization that was the middle man between visitors and the local volunteer researchers from Ocean Spirits who would capture the eggs and relocate them to increase their viability. 

There was an informative introductory presentation on the leatherbacks and preview as to what to expect. If it were a night where no turtles showed, we’d be able to return. I imagined it was going to be one of those nights because I simply couldn’t imagine being so lucky. The tour guide also said that once he got the ‘okay’ from the researcher that we could pet the creature during her laying, he’d indicate it. Only red lights were allowed, so please turn off your flash. The creatures could be permanently blinded. At first, I wondered why we’d be allowed to touch the creatures at all especially since they emphasized having clean hands as imperative. Even sun lotion could burn their skin or the incisions they had on their carapace. But he explained the female went into a trance-like state when laying and this was all in the name of education and awareness, so I was honored at the opportunity. 

We waited less than an hour in the dark on the edge of a beach before we got the word a female had come up onto the beach. We walked nearly half a mile to get to her. It was a small group and we were all able to see well. Guess who was the obnoxious fool whose camera went automatically into flash mode? Yes, I was mortified and quickly turned but realized that after the phone falls asleep the default went back to flash. I’m usually the person on the other end huffing and puffing at the stupidity of others who “don’t listen” and there I was. Truth is, it was all so surreal, I had to give the camera to Paul. I just couldn’t do both at one time. My childhood dreams of being on Jacque Cousteau’s media crew dashed, if any of it remained. 

As we watched, the guide pointed out how this was not her first time on the beach, the leatherback had the tags on her rear fins to prove it. We stood a good hour watching her lay and then cover what she thought were her eggs, but at this point was just an empty hole as the researchers caught each one for relocation. There were three guides to corral the group of about 10 and three researchers. One was the supervisor, the other carried the bucket for the eggs and the tiniest of the three scooched under to catch the eggs and place them in the bucket. She was petite, nimble and strong, perfect for the job. The gathered eggs, about 100, were strategically moved and reburied to optimize survival. A grand gesture of gratitude to the volunteer team at Ocean Spirits for their relentless dedication to save these majestic creatures.